Show-off -Phan-
by TheFrindge
Summary: Phil had no friends in high school, he was bullied and an outcast. Now he is an adult, famous, happy and living with his best friend who he loves dearly. So when he gets an invitation for a high school student meetup, what will he do? Dan is determined to show everyone what great success Phil had achieved in life, while Phil worries over how far Dan will go, and alcohol (fluff)


Phil had been bullied back in highschool, not physically, except a push here or there, but he was more or less made fun of. He had practically no friends, and even though that left him a bit sad back then he had tons of time to watch TV shows or play video games. The absence of friends gave him more time for homework too. But that all didn't matter.

Once he was college Phil started making friends, and YouTube videos. It was and at first he thought it wasn't going to be that important. It turned out people liked him more than he could have ever guessed! The fans started building up and Phil found himself talking to a particularly big fan of his, Dan. At first he also thought an internet friend wouldn't be as close to him as his real life friends, he soon found out that was wrong too.

Dan became one of his closest friends soon and they Skype called all the time. Dan was so funny, sarcastic, insecure, cute, nice, smart and articulate. Phil just couldn't stop talking to him. Of course it should've been obvious from the beginning that Dan and He were going to meet sooner or later. And when it happened Phil was so happy he couldn't explain the joy and happiness. There was something about having a great friend whom you can trust and confide in.

Dan created his own YouTube channel too, Phil finished college while Dan dropped his degree. Phil supported his decision completely of course. He knew Dan would get nothing from that law degree and so why should he waste his time there? Dan should just go and explore his life that awaits. They moved in together too, it was wonderful, and it still is.

Then he and Dan continued with YouTube, there were moments where he doubted he could make a living off of YouTube. He was rather wrong at this too, he managed quite marvelously actually! Dan soon gained more subscribers than him, nothing changed much except Dan claiming he had more power over who gets the bathroom first.

Things continued and Dan and Phil were living the life, from radio shows to multiple tours! They wrote two books, made a movie or two (Dan hosted one over the summer too) and experienced so much joy. They were what people called successful. Dan loved laughing at the thought of what Phil's high school bullies would have to say about what Phil had achieved.

Phil would always just roll his eyes at Dan, he would tell him that it didn't matter. But to be honest Phil liked to think about it, it was only in human nature to prove yourself to the one's who think you can't. He had had a chance to do that, for the last five years he has been receiving high school meetup invitations. Every time he had been busy with something, be it the a radio show or the tour, but looking at this years invitation he realised he had nothing going on to stop him to going to this one.

He knew he could bring Dan along, there was always a plus one, but what would he do there? He had no friends in high school, he surely couldn't go to 'just hang out' now could he?

"DAN!"

Dan would choose, maybe he will even think of an evil master plan to show Phil off or something. There was really no knowing with Dan.

"DAN!"

Phil yelled again trying to sound threatening, really with no success (he sounded adorable). He heard Dan's feet trot on the ground and soon after saw a giant like figure of Dan enter the living room. Dan was dressed in a Winnie the Pooh onesie and wrapped in a soft blanket. His cute hobbit hair was hanging off his face and Phil couldn't resist a smile. Dan just pouted and expectantly crossed his arms.

"What is it Phil? I was preoccupied."

Phil laughed while Dan sat next to him (or more like threw himself on the couch without mercy right onto his crease).

"Never mind that, what should I do?" Phil said as he handed Dan the invitation. He needed more coffee.

Phil got up from the sofa and looked down at Dan who was reading closely and looking quite adorable while doing so.

"Would you like some coffee Dan?"

"No...YES! I mean I'd like hot chocolate." Seeing how distracted Dan was Phil decided to just walk away chuckling thinking how he was going to spend this weekend. Was he actually going to the meetup?

Phil carefully took grasp of the mugs which were obviously intended for Dan and him. He wasn't going to lie and say that going to the meetup doesn't bother him when really it is bothering him a lot. All the bullies will be there, all of them drinking fancy champagne in the school gym(which will obviously be redecorated to please them). They will all look like some rich people with their trophy husbands and wives, he was pretty sure some had children and would bring them too to brag. Phil knew this, he knew because every year after the meetup he'd look at pictures on Facebook, as pathetic as it sounded.

He finished Dan's hot chocolate and decided to take a picture for Instagram, he knew their fans like cute things like that. He finished it with the caption _"When you have to do everything for your friend"_ acute picture of two mugs followed and Phil posted it pleased.

He walked into the living room to witness Dan smirking like a cheshire cat swinging the invitation in front of his face to most probably prove a point. Phil looked at him confused, what was so interesting? Had Dan actually thought of something devious? Oh dear lord.

"Philly, did you even read the other side of the invitation? Did you see what it says? " Dan was obviously trying to get the questions out of Phil, he liked being dramatic.

"No. "

He waited for Dan to tell him but soon realised Dan was trying to be mysterious and there was no way he would just tell him.

"Alright, what does it say? "

Dan happily swung his feet on the table(which he wouldn't do if he wasn't being mysterious) , he rested them there and quite dramatically turned the other side of the invitation. His hand gestures made it even more dramatic and Phil just rolled his while setting the mugs on the table. They rested quite close to Dan's legs and he could see Dan glance at them carefully.

"Now Philly, it says right here: _We are happy to announce that this year the high school gathering will be more fun than ever! The current students have prepared a series of shows for you to see how well the newer generations are doing! Now, this of course means that even you can prepare a show, a speech, a performance, whatever you prefer. Please just contact the_ _vice-principal_ _of what you will need, the number is-_ And That's mostly the boring information part.

What we Philly need is the performance part! Don't you see? This is finally a moment to prove to those bullies what you're worth! Isn't this just perfect?"

Dan was very enthusiastic and to be honest he was right, it's not like we were going to do anything horrible to them. We'll just prove that he wasn't worthless, unskilled, unimportant.

"How about we perform The internet is here?" Phil said quickly, it's not like they could perform their entire show. That would last too long, not to mention he doubted the school theater had the equipment , or the people to work with it.

"Hmm, yes! Great idea Phil, should I call the vice-principal person or will you? "

Phil looked at Dan's excited brown eyes and felt himself blush, he looked away thinking over who should call and decided it should be Dan. He was better at organising then him.

"Um, you can do it, I'll just call the guy we need to help set up the music. Yes, um, yeah. "

Phil knew he was awkward at that very moment but he had no idea why he had to be blushing. Either way the microphones weren't going to deliver to their house by themselves.

Dan had wonderful eyes.

"This is going to be so exciting! Did you bring the camera? "

Dan was still very excited to meet the bullies and show-off how wonderful Phil was, and Phil was a bit nervous.

"Yes, yes I brought the camera. "

They had decided to film the performance to post it on YouTube as a single for charity, they had been thinking of doing that for some time now but this was a perfect time film it. They doubted that the audience will be screaming in joy like their fans while they perform. This will of course allow them to also take audio from the footage, if the audience is quiet.

Phil still nervous though, he just couldn't stop thinking about those bullies. Would they make fun of him? Will they try and persuade Dan to their side? He gnawed on his lip.

He felt someone's warm hand cover his and quickly realised it was Dan who had stopped talking and was now looking at him with reassuring eyes.

"Phil, relax. It's going to be fine. I'll be there with you the entire time! Promise. "

Dan smiled and Phil believed him, he believed him because he loved him. And he was now red all over his face.

He hoped Dan didn't notice he was flustered, these thoughts shouldn't be coming to him right now. Stupid mind.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll just relax. "

Dan nodded like an approving mother while smiling.

"Take a nap or something, the train ride is long enough for that."

Phil nodded and slowly rested his head onto Dan's shoulder. Peaceful sleep overtook him quickly.

The high school looked about the same as back when he used to go there. It was obvious the walls were painted again and that there was a small park there too now but everything was pretty much like before. Windows big but barely see-through and the floor fool of holes which honestly had to be filled with more cement.

Dan walked right next to him which filled him with comfort, the nap had helped him and he was glad that he had listened to Dan. Phil watched as some students struggled to carry a large amount of costume props (which he guessed were for the show today). Their own costumes were with their camera men, they were to set up what they needed while Dan and Phil socialised at the meetup. Though they doubted they would, but they had to be there or something.

"Oh my, what a surprise! "

They both immediately looked over at the woman who, very loudly, exclaimed this. She sounded amused, as if she was making a hilarious joke. She had brown hair styled as if she was a million dollars, which she was not, and an expression on her face that indicated 'surprise' and 'amusement' that actually looked like she was trying to figure out a school work problem which was easy but she too ignorant to know the answer to. Her fancy blue dress was most probably meant to show them her beauty, which it did, but the horrible personality that was radiating from her was really ruining the look.

"Phil, is that actually you? Wasn't expecting someone like you here! "

She laughed showing them her flawless white teeth, a man that was standing next to her (presumably her husband) was giving them a humorous smirk. He held her on the waist tightly and made sure her laugh looked more dramatic than it should've been. Phil could see Dan was angry, and he himself was rather nervous.

"What do you mean by that? "

Asking something was honestly the best way to cut off the air of incompetence of her supposed 'humor'.

"Phil, Phil, you are obviously not successful. I mean, your dressing style is the same as it was in highschool! I mean, what kind of man wears a red flower button-up?"

She laughed again and Phil looked down at his shirt. He for her information quite liked this one, and so did Dan. He had planned on wearing since it was one of his favorites. Why was she trying to ruin it for him?

"I mean, Phil, next time you should just not come! Just like all those times before, we all knew you were too embarrassed to come. No need to pressure yourself. "

Phil ignored all of her taunts, he wouldn't just let her stomp all over him. Still, words stung a bit. Dan on the other hand was ready for a fight, a verbal one of course. He was ready for a hardcore debate which he was sure she wouldn't be able to handle with her brain capacity.

"What's your name unsophisticated lady? "

Phil looked horrified at Dan who was currently smirking. No one insulted Phil so boldly in front of him.

"What? "

She looked completely confused, her head leaning on her shoulder in pure dubiety.

"I asked for your name. "

Dan stated, he was still smirking and Phil was still questioning what he was thinking.

"I mean, what'd ya call me?"

She looked so idiotic Phil felt sorry, but he wasn't about to make fun of her. That would be mean, he was better than this.

"Oh yes, I called you an unsophisticated lady. "

Phil expected her to angrily throw a fit, but she didn't.

"What's that mean?"

Dan could feel his IQ dropping as he listened to her and Phil felt as if he should just get to the god forsaken gym already. Dan on the other hand needed to reassemble his IQ back.

"That means you are lacking the refined worldly comprehension. "

Phil decided to drag Dan away before he caused a scene.

"See ya! "

Once they were far enough Dan laughed out loud and Phil himself couldn't contain his laughter.

"I can't believe her! "

Dan exclaimed through laughs, Derek visibly shone through it all.

"She didn't know what unsophisticated meant. That's just unbelievable. "

He continued laughing. Phil rolled his eyes while still smiling widely. Dan was a wondrous friend, just a bit surprising sometimes.

"What was her name anyways? "

Dan had composed himself a bit as he asked the question. Phil thought about it for a second.

"Rebecca I think. "

Dan nodded.

"Alrighty then, she's now on my 'most hated people' list now. "

They both made eye contact as they stood in front of the doors to the gym. The more Phil looked at Dan's eyes the more mesmerised he became, the cute twinkle in Dan's eyes was breathtaking. He leaned a bit closer still keeping contact.

Dan leaned in closer too and his stomach did a backflip, probably the most exercise he'll ever do, and it occurred to Phil in that moment that they were about to kiss. Were they really? His cheeks bloomed bright rose red.

Too bad people talking down the hall scared them so they quickly jumped apart and entered the gym uncertainly. It was like the universe was against him today.

"Look Phil! They have wine, let's get some."

Phil quickly found himself getting dragged around by Dan who was getting himself wine (he liked getting since he always looked fancy doing so). The music was very boring actually, they weren't even letting classical music, more like 'cool' music that really had no quality at all. Phil wished they let something more fun, Muse or any other band like fall out boy perhaps. Classical music would be pleasant too, maybe jazz to be funky, but these sounds were just unpleasant and annoying.

He could see Dan sipping on his wine and disapprovingly glancing at the speakers. It was obvious that neither he was enjoying the music. The wine on the other hand seemed to be currently taking up 70% of Dan's attention, the other two being Phil with 20% and the disapproval of the horrid music with 10%.

An hour passed as Dan and Phil mildly chatted and complained, at one point they even went to check on their costumes and workers for their performance making sure they had their microphones (the ones the school offered were crappy). Everything seemed to be setup and once they were back in the gym they were left to find out that the horrid music was still playing.

Phil watched as Dan took another sip of his fifth glass of wine, he felt butterflies flutter in his stomach as Dan's lips softly touched the wine glass.

He knew this was going to happen sooner or later as he saw a clique of the most pretentious looking people approached him. He knew them all of course, they were the bully clique as he liked to call them. They all had been the source of his hell back in high school. He could see that they had even mostly married each other, he felt sorry for their most probably existing children.

"Well hello Phil. "

They were all sadistic.

"I couldn't believe my ears when I heard you were actually here! "

They didn't care if they hurt someone's feelings.

"You can just imagine my surprise-"

They hated being proved wrong.

"-Phil? here? Blimey I was completely caught off guard! "

And they all thought that they were the best.

"I am intrigued as to how come you came this year, we all thought you were to ashamed to show your face here. "

And that was why he was going to be perfectly polite and nice to them as he was to everyone else.

"Oh, well you see I was busy the last few years. This year we decided to relax and take things easy so I had no reason not to come."

Phil smiled sweetly like he always did, Dan could feel his tolerance for these people falling every second. They both actually didn't want to be here, this really could've been a relaxing day with anime, karaoke and any other nerdy thing they could think of.

"Busy? What could you be possibly busy _with_?"

They all laughed deviously at him, Phil had feeling like Dan was going to do something again.

"A lot of things actually. "

The words left Dan's mouth before Phil had time to even look at him. He was right, Dan was going to do something.

The bully clique all turned their malicious stares towards Dan, their full disgusting attention him now.

"And who are _you_? "

One of the lanky women jabbed skeptically.

"Dan Howell. "

All of them put their bitch faces in contact as they sarcastically spoke to Dan.

"Well then, Dan Howell, what is this 'a lot' that Phil was busy with, huh? "

But Phil knew there was one thing they didn't know about Dan.

"Well, not much except a radio show, a few tours here and there. England, Europe, USA and Australia to be exact. Two books, which were also bestsellers! Oh, what did I forget? Ah, yes, also two movies, and a charity single which we are going to perform on stage today. It is a quite nice song. Then not to mention the merch store! But yes, not much to be busy with you see. Not much at all."

Dan was fluent in sarcasm.

"So? "

To say Dan had managed to make tons of adult bullies look like gobsmacked puppies was maybe too much, but Dan managed to make tons of adult bullies look like gobsmacked puppies.

Phil knew that Dan knew that he had just shown-off Phil to all these horrid bullies, sometimes Dan really was a show-off, and a drama queen. Phil knew Dan was holding back some big sarcastic dialogues which were always ready when he needed to prove people how stupid they were. He really was something.

The bullies on the other hand were watching them still and the shock on their faces didn't seem to fade either.

"Hello? HELLO! um, DOES THIS MICROPHONE WORK? WHAT?"

Everyone covered their ears as a girl at the microphone was obviously having trouble with it, as he said; the school microphones were horrible.

"OH! SORry, the principal would like you to gather in the school theater now for the series of amazing shows! We can't wait to see you. Goodbye. I think I did pretty good Rachel-WAIT I'm still on, oopsie-"

The line ended with a loud screech of broken microphones making everyone cringe, they really needed to give charity to this school for some new microphones. This was just sad.

"Come on Phil, we've got a show to catch. "

Dan winked and dragged Phil away with a satisfied grin obviously happy about the little stunt he pulled back there.

They both walked down the halls which were crowded with everyone leaving the gym, some students were even there. Phil guessed they were here to watch the shows or host them, either way he was still concentrated on Dan's hand that was still holding him. It was very, very distracting.

Phil had a quick flashback to the almost kiss, and to be honest it wasn't the first one. The amount of times they had almost kissed each other was uncountable! (It was actually 36, he kept count.) He didn't know why they just didn't do it, it was obvious they liked each other.

"I'm going to show you off so much you have no idea Phil. "

Dan whispered to him softly and he shivered.

"I think you already have. "

Dan smiled.

"You're right, I just need the finishing touch. "

Phil blushed and made no attempts to look away, Dan quickly leaned in and kissed his rosy cheek. Phil was sure that his stomach was ready for the Olympics.

"Y-yeah. "

His voice cracked embarrassingly as they sat together in the front seats. Were theaters normally this hot?

"Ladies and gentlemen! We are happy to welcome you to this years special show for all of you to enjoy-"

The introduction speech continued and Phil comfortingly listened. The series of shows were interesting and varied on themes. Some were acts, songs, poems, or even interpretive dances. There were dark, light and weird themes. All in all Phil could see all the students here had put hard work into this.

Soon of course came the time for the adults who had decided to prepare their own performances. Dan and he were third, and he was getting nervous. It was one thing to perform in front of beautiful and accepting fans and another in front of mean stuck-up bullies who made fun of you constantly.

He felt Dan squeeze his hand softly.

"It's going to be completely fine Philly. "

His soft whisper gave him chills and he found himself blushing again. Looking over at Dan he saw he was blushing too. They both leaned in again to once again be stopped, this time by an off-tune guitar playing a Spanish song.

 _Attempt 37, noted._ Phil noted as he looked up to see an unamused child playing the guitar carelessly and Rebecca and her Husband dancing along without any rhythm. They both had huge fake smiles you only saw on TV. She was now dressed in a red dress which sparkled almost worse than Dan's suit. Her husband had a matching tie, and Phil had to say the look he had made him look like he was dead inside.

All in all it was a horrible performance.

Phil could see Dan trying to contain his laughter , and failing. Luckily he wasn't too loud so they didn't get too many weird looks. As the show progressed Phil noticed a lot of students were entering seeing as they were over with their show. Pretty much everyone had a look of disgust, some had decency and tried hiding it.

The moment Rebecca finished Phil swore the amount of joy that erupted was enormous, mostly because they were all happy the torture was over, Rebecca seemed to take it as a compliment of course.

The second performance was bit better, it was a guy singing 'Hello' by Adele and he was enjoying it. As it was coming to an end Dan and Phil quickly went backstage to prepare. They managed to do it just in time as the Hello guy finished with a sincere clap following him.

Phil peeked behind the curtain to see the entire theater was full of teenagers now while the front was overtaken by the adults. He took a deep breath and smiled, he could do this. He just had to remember to mention the charity at the end since this was getting recorded for YouTube.

"Ready Phil? "

Dan extended his hand to me, I took it. Those bullies will see I am not worthless!

The lights turned off and I walked to the middle of the stage. A single light turned on and pointed at me. Suddenly I heard loud cheers, I smiled, maybe there were some fans amongst the students?

Whenever I'm alone  
Or if I'm feeling grey  
There's one place I can go  
To brighten up my day

It makes me want to sing  
That's how the show should end  
But wouldn't it be good if I  
Could sing it with a friend?

I smiled all the way through it and I was sure there were definite fans in the audience, I heard some sing along. I looked over to the spot where Dan was standing waiting for his performance.

Whoa, whoa, what?  
Phil, I think you should ask before you put me on the spot like this!

Okay, fine, whatever, I'll join in too

We continued, everything went perfectly and we didn't even mix up our suits. Dan's shoe didn't fall off either, we didn't mess anything up. If Phil had anything to say about it; they were great! The fangirls in the audience were screeching on the top of their lungs. He saw some had drawn whiskers on their noses with the sharpies they found in their school backpacks. Best of all were the shocked faces of his peers, many were gaping shamelessly.

He almost forgot about the charity speech when Dan gave him the look.

"Thanks you everyone for your attention! "

Dan continued after him, they had been practising this for a week.

"We hope you enjoyed our performance for the song 'The internet is here'! "

"It is a charity single for stand up to cancer. "

"This show has been recorded for YouTube where you may find the official video for this too. We sang this as a special for Phil's high school meetup!"

"I hope every one of my peers has liked it. "

"Phil truly deserves this guys! So another round applause for Phil Lester everybody! The YouTube celebrity sensation and almost every girl's dream! "

All the fans cheered and I knew Dan was saying this to get a reaction out of his peers. He was not disappointed, all gaped. It was as if they couldn't trust their ears. I laughed.

"Aw, thanks Dan! I wouldn't go that far. Many have fantasized about you too! "

Dan laughed with me and winked.

"I'm sure many have. "

He looked at Phil meaningfully as they exited the stage, Phil's heart thudding loudly in his chest. Was his heart practising boxing on his ribs? What was with his insides preparing for the Olympics today? He gave Dan a an unsure smile.

He knew one thing though; Dan had been quite a show-off today, but in a different way. He had done everything to remind Phil's bullies how amazing, successful, worth and wonderful Phil was. And he drank all of the wine in the process.

There was a little after-party, well, after the show. Dan had taken up the challenge of taking all the wine, Phil had tried minimizing the amount to make sure Dan didn't get too drunk. He was a silly drunk of course, singing karaoke and doing bold moves and not really thinking what he was doing.

He had even insulted many of Phil's peers accidentally, or on purpose, he wasn't really sure. They had even met many fans, pictures were taken and everything before Dan got drunker. As the party was going to a close Phil had to drag Dan away from the wine to make sure they weren't late for the taxi. He had miraculously succeeded.

"Y'know, I really like your eyes! "

Dan giggled drunkenly while pointing at Phil. His words were slurred, slow and obviously drunk. Phil had also somehow managed to make Dan look not drunk when they entered the train. He was sure there was some kind of rule about alcohol infused people but he honestly had no time for that.

"Thanks Dan, I like your eyes too. "

Dan snuggled in his hiding his face in a mini pillow. He giggled again and looked up at Phil with rosy cheeks. Since they were sitting right next to each other (even though they had an entire train cabin themselves) their faces were rather close and Phil found himself with a matching set of rosy cheeks.

"Phil"

Dan whispered slowly, Phil gulped down whatever was preventing him from speaking.

"Hm?"

He still couldn't speak, Dan was so close yet again and something was pulling him in.

"Why don't we just kiss? "

Phil froze on the spot, Dan was so drunk he had no filter, which seemed to make him address the obvious out loud.

"I-I, I don't know. "

His brain couldn't function properly, and Dan was gripping his shirt clumsily and he was a mess. He couldn't really concentrate on what Dan was saying. He could only guess.

"Maybe- We should. "

Phil wasn't sure if that was Dan had said but it didn't actually matter.

Their lips met slowly and Phil slid his arms around Dan's waist not really what he was doing. Dan's lips were chapped but very warm and welcoming, he tasted of alcohol. Phil had to admit that the wine he could taste was rather delicious, but then again that could be just Dan. Dan's hands on the other hand found their way up Phil's neck. Phil wondered why they hadn't just kissed before, this was he needed, wanted.

He pulled Dan closer so he was practically in Phil's lap. They held onto each other as their passionate make out continued. It was getting heavy to breathe soon and when Phil finally took another breath he muttered:

"You're such a show-off Dan Howell. "

Dan only chuckled.

 **please leave a review or favourite this story! I really enjoyed writing it and would love if you let me know wht you think!**


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